File this one under getting a grip. A Colorado woman is suing the drugmaker because she suffers from a copper deficiency her lawsuit claims is caused by an abundance of zinc found in the Poligrip she used to secure her dentures, The Denver Post writes.

Zinc used in the denture cream is absorbed by the body and can cause copper depletion, which can cause neurological damage in extremities, the paper continues. The suit filed by Rae Ann Schmaltz, by the way, is actually one of dozens across the country against denture-cream makers, and is spawning such web sites as denturecreamlawsuitcenter.com.

The manufacturers - Procter & Gamble sells Fixodent - have responded that denture cream is safe when used as directed. But attorneys for some of those who believe they have been harmed say there is no warning for users that applying excessive denture cream to hold ill- fitting dentures can cause problems as severe as a loss of feeling in the limbs, the Post writes.

Interestingly, her family suspected zinc was the cause of her problems, but when they called Glaxo’s Block Drug subsidiary, they were told the list of ingredients was proprietary. So Schmaltz’s husband, Robert, who owns a weatherproofing company and is familiar with chemicals, went on the Internet to Material Safety Data Sheets, which are public records of the chemical makeup of all kinds of products. And guess what? He found that Poligrip contains zinc.

“The implications of this case could be huge,” Shelley Don, a lawyer representing Schmaltz, tells the paper. “There are 15 to 20 million Americans who wear dentures. And nearly all denture adhesives contain zinc.” For Glaxo, of course, the concern is the charges will….stick.